Who were/are the 5 most influential Americans since Columbus?

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smhbbag

Puritan Board Senior
The trick: no Presidents allowed on the list.

(and since this is the PB - President of the Confederate States of America counts as a "President" :) )

For clarity, "America" here means the land of the current continental United States, and "American" is anyone living on that land since around 1500.

This is actually a pretty interesting question that was posed to me last night by my wife, over fancy (suit/tie, and dress) Valentine's dinner. It was lovely dinner conversation :)

There's such a broad range of options - theologians, inventors, entrepreneurs, explorers, founding fathers, activists...you get the idea.

My list:

Jonathan Edwards
Benjamin Franklin
Henry Ford
Thomas Edison
And believe it or not, Charles Finney.

Honorable (or dishonorable) mention: John D. Rockefeller, Robert E. Lee, MLK Jr., Carl Sagan, Betty Friedan, Wilbur/Orville Wright...and I'm sure many others.

What's your list and why?

Granted, my knowledge of 1500-1700 in America is somewhat limited, but I just couldn't think of a single individual who, alone, had an impact on the level of the rest of these guys.
 
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I would take out Ford and put in Darwin in the frontrunner list. I would also substitute Alexander Hamilton for Thomas Edison. The other three in your list I agree with.
 
Darwin was British, now that you mention it. Ooops.

And I just mentioned Columbus to set the time frame, but he would count as American, since he lived a good deal on the land that is currently in the continental US.
 
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So anyone who lived a substantial portion of their lives on US soil counts? Even if they were not a citizen? Would John Wesley count?
 
Marxism found influence in the form of Grouch and Harpo.:p
My list of unheralded American culture changers:

BB Warfield
Stonewall Jackson
Elvis Presley
Barry Goldwater
John Wayne
 
All the above are good.

I was thinking of Elvis, but Travis beat me to him. I don't know if they rank in the top five, but what about (for dis/honorable mention, perhaps)

William Penn
Lewis and Clark
Joseph Smith/Brigham Young
C. I. Scofield
Margaret Sanger
Hal Lindsey
Timothy Leary

and of course - Bill Gates
 
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I hate to say this, but what about....ummm.....Bill Gates?

*quickly ducks out the door*
 
Eli Whitney and the cotton gin changed the course of America, and hence the world.

Andrew Carnegie had vast influence.

George Washington had more influence on America before he became President than after.
 
My top Five...

My list would be:

1.) Jonathan Edwards:up:
2.) B. B. Warfield:up:
3.) Thomas Jefferson:scholar:
4.) Charles Finney:down:
5.) Joel Osteen:down:
 
My List:
It's hard to think of only five!
1. Archibald Alexander:scholar:
2. Jonathan Edwards:edwards:
3. Benjamin Franklin:book2:
4. Johnny Cash:sing:
5. Charles Taze Russell :down:

There are so many others that deserve mention, but you didn't ask for more than five, so I guess that's my list. Each are important in their own way, with various areas of influence.
 
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Since you guys are mentioning people still living I think I should warn you that Bawb will probably notice he has not gotten one vote yet.

I am still thinking. The computer keeps kicking back my Roger Clemens vote.
 
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